Bidding farewell to Utah’s Lt. Governor, Greg Bell

Utah’s Lt. Governor Greg Bell announced today that he is resigning to return to the private sector. He has served the state of Utah for many years and now is focusing on the needs of his family.

Everyone that I have talked to today has expressed the same things – “Greg Bell is my friend” and “He will be missed.”

Greg has the ability to truly see the good in everyone – and to bring it out. He is respectful, quiet, deliberate, a hard worker and a good listener – remarkable traits made even more so by their rarity in the political realm.

He was chosen to be Lt Governor by Governor Gary Herbert 4 years ago, when Herbert stepped up to the governorship after Jon Huntsman headed to China.

Herbert said today he has valued Bell’s loyalty as his partner and friend.

“He is a true statesman, a man of principle, integrity and resolve. And he has been key to our ongoing success, particularly on the education front,” he said.

A self-described policy wonk, Bell also has been heavily involved in planning the state budget and health care issues. He spent a number of years in the Utah Senate and before that, on the Farmington city council.

I first met Greg Bell when I came to the Hill to advocate for midwives. He taught me how to disagree agreeably. He taught me how important it is to be kind and respectful. He never did vote for our bill, but it also never became personal. He knew – and I learned – that we would ultimately agree on far more than we disagreed on.

I have always been glad that neither one of us took a bridge-burning tact with a policy disagreement, because I too am happy to call him friend. When I started this blog 4 1/2 years ago, then-Senator Greg Bell was one of my biggest cheerleaders. He frequently asked how things were going, if there was anything he could do to help and what my readership numbers were. In the early days, those numbers were pretty darn small and he never failed to encourage me to keep going. Over 1000 posts later, I’m still going!

During campaign season, he and I crossed paths often as we spoke at some of the same rural county conventions. He is an engaging speaker and always spoke from the heart. Unlike some of us, he did not have a rehearsed speech but seemed to have something new and different every time. I know he has a deep love for the state of Utah and for its residents. He has shown it in a myriad of ways for decades.

Here is a very brief clip from a press interview earlier today.

There’s been a bit of a drought on Holly on the Hill – what better way to break it than to talk about one of my friends?! I wish him well in his next endeavor – I am quite sure he will be successful there too.